A Run of Luck at Drury Theatre by Herbert Rose Barraud 1886

Alma Murray (1854–1945) was an English actress.

Life

She was born in London into a theatrical family, the daughter of actors

Leigh Murray Henry Leigh Murray (1820–1870) was an English actor. Early life Murray was born in Sloane Street, London, 19 October 1820, with the surname Wilson. While a clerk in a merchant's office he made a start on amateur acting, in a small theatre in ...

and his wife Sarah Mannering.Eric Salmon, ‘Murray, Alma (1854–1945)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 16 Oct 2016
/ref> Her father's real surname was Wilson. His brother was Gaston Murray (real name Gaston Parker Wilson) whose daughters often used the double-barreled stage-name 'Gaston-Murray' and were well-known performers with the

D'Oyly Carte Opera Company The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company is a professional British light opera company that, from the 1870s until 1982, staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere. The ...

. Murray's first appearance was at the

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

in 1870 as Sacharissa in ''The Princess''. She played at the

Lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Basic science and some introduction to ...

with Irving in 1879 and at different West End theatres from 1882 to 1897, and took a prominent part in the few attempts to produce the dramas of Shelley and Browning, playing Beatrice in ''The Cenci'' (1886) and Mildred in ''A Blot in the 'Scutcheon'' (1888). She played Helena in

John Todhunter John Todhunter (30 December 1839 – 25 October 1916) was an Irish poet and playwright who wrote seven volumes of poetry, and several plays. Life Todhunter was born in Dublin, the eldest son of Thomas Harvey Todhunter, a Quaker merchant ...

's ''Helena in Troas'' (1886). In 1884 at the Comedy Theatre, London, she played in ''The New Woman'', with Fred Terry and Cyril Maude, in 1885 ''A Leader of Men'' with Marion Terry and H.B.Irving, and in 1890 ''A Modern Marriage'', opposite Ellaline Terriss and Lewis Waller. Alma Murray married the poet Alfred William Forman (1840-1925), the first translator of Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen''. She played Mrs. Maylie in ''Oliver Twist'' (1905), (1912), the Queen in ''Pelleas and Melisande'' (1911), Lady Dedmond in Galsworthy's ''Fugitive'' (1913), and Mrs. Eynsford-Hill in

Shaw's Shaw's and Star Market are two American supermarket chains under united management based in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, employing about 30,000 associates in 150 total stores; 129 stores are operated under the Shaw's banner in Maine, Massac ...

''Pygmalion'' (1914). A collection of letters between Murray and George Bernard Shaw was privately published in Edinburgh in 1927.Letters from George Bernard Shaw to Miss Alma Murray (Mrs. Alfred Forman). Edinburgh : Printed for private circulation, 1927. 2p. 1 illus. 20 cm. Library of Congress PR5366 .A465 (Copy held by Rare Book/Special Collections Reading Room).

References

External links

Portraits
English stage actresses 1854 births 1945 deaths Place of birth missing Actresses from London {{England-stage-actor-stub